


Mending Waves

by Virgilia (Zweena)



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: A Major One, Actually more than a year has passed, Ana is best mom, Angst with a Happy Ending, Day At The Beach, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Grill Team Is 11/10, Hana Still Can't Deal With It, Hanzo Has a Sweet Tooth, How Do I Tag, Implied:, Jack's Old Truck, Light Angst, Light Sexual Innuendos, M/M, Middle Aged Men Flirting, Multi, Post-Recall, Some cameos, The poor cashier lost her opportunity to ask for an autograph, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, mention of other characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2018-09-19
Packaged: 2019-07-13 18:54:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16023911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zweena/pseuds/Virgilia
Summary: [...]“I guess you would have realized by now… that I have been avoiding talking about anything related to Jess-...McCree.” The archer then paused and fell quiet, diving the spoon in his sundae. D.Va feared for a moment that he was done talking after only admitting that he’d indeed been avoiding that topic. [...] “We fought. Before I left, four months ago. Actually, our fight was the main reason I was assigned to a solo mission.”[...]Hana saw next were brooding and self-loathing resurface briefly on Hanzo’s face as his anger quickly faded.Turns out, she had been right all this time. Even during their calls she had noticed an off tone in the archer’s tone. Much like a certain someone else who had been forcing himself to smile and act like there had been absolutely nothing going on in the past months.-Written for the McHanzo Sanctuary Summer Exchange.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Psychedelic_dreams_01](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Psychedelic_dreams_01/gifts).



> Written for the McHanzo Sanctuary Summer Echange.  
> Prompts used: Fake/pretended dating (I tried), beach party/get together, some angst.
> 
> My first work in this fandom & not in my native language.  
> I'm also terribly late.  
> I tried. /ᐠ｡‸｡ᐟ\  
> Hope you find it enjoyable!

 

The café was nearly empty, save for a couple of tables occupied by customers chatting quietly between themselves. Usually the place would be filled by tourists and regulars alike but after a good five days of pouring rain it was no wonder most people decided to spend the day at one of the beautiful beaches in Gibraltar .

The cashier, a curly-haired teen, was sitting behind the polished light grey wooden counter, browsing lazily through a magazine; every once in a while she'd sneak glances to one of the few occupied tables, the one with two peculiar people were sitting, a beautiful slender young woman with chestnut hair tied up in a messy bun and a very attractive, muscular man with sharp cheekbones, a bridge piercing and one of the most attractive resting bitch face she had ever seen. She squinted a little, focusing her gaze on the man's left arm; her eyes widened almost immediately: that was one hell of a tattoo! She was sure she had seen it somewhere before too. When pondering when and where she saw it left her with nothing but a slight headache, the cashier decided to move her gaze onto the young woman. Again, that feeling; ...the young woman was someone famous. She decided to keep sneaking glances at them, hoping she'd finally remember who they were.

The poor girl didn't know that both Overwatch agents were aware of her gaze lingering on them for a moment too long, but both of them decided to ignore it, seeing as she didn't pose a threat; that, and both Hanzo and Hana had better things to focus on at the moment, mainly the delicious ice-cream filled glasses a waiter had just placed in front of them.

 

"........" Hana lowered her light blue framed, heart-shaped sunglasses to take a better look at the bowl that had just been set in front of the archer. Hers was a expression of light-to-mild disgust.

Hanzo licked clean the spoon after the first spoonful of delicious, cold, sweet cream, finally taking off his eyes from his sundae and noticing the look Hana was giving him. He raised an eyebrow in response first, then added, calmly "What?"

Silence fell between the duo. A good minute passed, both staring first at the other, then at their sundaes.

"......" then Hanzo shrugged, relaxing his back against the chair, picking his spoon back up. "I told you I craved ice-cream”, he casually added before proceeding to take another spoonful from the huge glass bowl set in front of him, which was filled with a total of eight sizable scoops of ice cream (in order: chocolate, raspberry, coconut and cookie), topped with chocolate sauce, several chunks of waffle, small cubic wafers and a couple of wafer rolls on the very top, behind a cherry. This time he dipped the spoon in another flavor and made sure to catch a piece of waffle before bringing it to his mouth.

After all this time, Hanzo's sweet tooth still managed to amaze her.

Finally, Hana attacked her own sundae with growing eagerness. The AC in the shop made the temperature more bearable, if not a little cold, definitely better than the roaring sun and heat outside but there was no way it'd keep her sundae from starting to melt and who was she to commit such an injustice to that gorgeous, delicious sundae?

“I’m so glad you’re back, _ajeossi_. I was starting to miss you, y’know?” Hana started, “Your absence is easy noticeable here in Gibraltar. Sweets keep piling up instead of disappearing mysteriously overnight” she said, before casting him a look that clearly said “ _prove me wrong, I DARE you”_ , to which Hanzo replied with by rolling his eyes and huffing ( _“very funny Hana, really”_ ), even though his cheeks started to slightly prick from knowing shame. He hoped his body would respond to him and he tried his best in that fraction to keep himself from blushing… but, judging from the other’s cheeky grin, it was too late.  
“Anyway,” Hanzo started, quick to switch from the current topic, “what were we talking about before we got interrupted?”

Hana made a small choking noise as he quickly swallowed her mouthful to reply and for a moment the archer feared she was going to seriously choke herself. “ _Cough-! Cough-!_ Ah, yes! I was telling you that Winston accepted my request and gave us the all clear to organize this small party to welcome me back to the operative roster. So I’ve come all the way here from Busan to stay with everyone for a while… and to celebrate! It surely sucked to stay put for almost three months but at least I managed to keep up with some games I had on my ‘to continue’ list and bring back my stream for a while,” then she pouted at him “but it would have been better if you had been around, _ajeossi._  You’re surprisingly good at games. Almost at Genji- _hyung_ level. You promised you’d come visit me.”  
The corners of Hanzo’s lips turned down and for a split second a frown appeared on his face but he was quick to force himself into a neutral, calm smile, shaking his head as he replied to Hana “I know, and I’m sorry. I barely had time to get back here for a day before leaving once again to Italy.” She nodded at him, acknowledging his apology. “And no, I don’t think I’m at Genji’s level, yet. I merely rely on reading enemies’ attack patterns, calculate their trajectory and a good memory. Genji has **way** more experience than me. Muscle memory is also important in gaming, didn’t you tell me that once?”. She nodded, grinning at him “See? Always told you from the start that you'd be one of my brightest students!”

  
They were having a great time. Hanzo sure had missed her; sure, Hana wasn’t usually stationed at Gibraltar but whenever she was, he was glad to have her around. And to be completely fair, he had missed everyone and everything here in Gibraltar. It’s been a long, exhausting, painful journey since that day back in Hanamura, where he met his believed-to-be-dead brother. Looking back now, Hanzo would have accepted his offer right away. The burden he carried had, somehow, been made lighter. He had mended his relationship with Genji, made friends, found a cause worth working for and he started to consider Watchpoint: Gibraltar something akin to a house. Genji had been right, he felt like a new, perhaps better man; he felt like himself. And for, perhaps one of the very few times in his life, he even fell in love with someone.  
As they kept eating their sundaes, they switched talking to what she had been playing, how was her friend back in Busan and what should they play next together. She made a little fun of him, especially about the sour pout he put up whenever he lost.  
Caught up in the topic, he didn’t mean to let any thought escape, but the words poured out from his lips like the water flowing in a stream. He didn’t mean to suddenly turn the atmosphere between them from relaxing to tense. He was the one who tensed up immediately after realizing his mistake, Hana just followed him. “Jesse loved to tease me a little every time I’d lose. He knows just how much of a sore loser I am…”

 

For the four and a half months they had been apart, keeping in contact only through their comms, Hanzo had avoided McCree as a topic entirely. Hana, as stubborn as she could be, had learn to respect his reluctance to touch certain subjects. So she had quickly stopped trying to pry more informations from him. Genji had managed to get his brother to open up a little but only after a whole month and to respect his privacy he wouldn’t tell her (nor anyone else, for the matter) anything.  
So, when she saw him tense after realizing what had just made its way unfiltered from his brain to his mouth, she couldn’t help but freeze herself. She kept her cool, kept impassive and waited patiently for Hanzo to react. To her surprise, what it did take were just a few moments of chocolate searching in lighter brown, and the older man sighed, defeated. “I guess you would have realized by now… that I have been avoiding talking about anything related to Jess-...McCree.” The archer then paused and fell quiet, diving the spoon in his sundae. D.Va feared for a moment that he was done talking after only admitting that he’d indeed been avoiding that topic.  
Hanzo just stared down into the slowly melting ice-cream. He felt the cold grip of anxiety starting to creep like a tendril in his stomach and took a deep breath. “We fought. Before I left, three months ago. Actually, our fight was the main reason I was assigned to a solo mission.” He dove for more ice-cream, glad for the the sweet coldness it brought down his throat. “I started regretting my actions the very day I left. I acted stupidly, I let myself fall back in my old ways and most importantly, I was a coward!” Hanzo said, spouting these words full of anger and resentment; his brows had furrowed into a tight angry knot and what Hana saw next were brooding and self-loathing resurface briefly on Hanzo’s face as his anger quickly faded.  
Turns out, she had been right all this time. Even during their calls she had noticed an off tone in the archer’s tone. _Much like someone else who had been forcing himself to smile and act like nothing was going on in these past three months._  
Hanzo looked around and noticed that his little outburst had brought five pairs of eyes to stare at them. He regretted raising his voice now but he had been bottling everything up again. He turned his head to look back at Hana “I wish not to speak of such personal matters here… Mind if we go somewhere else? Perhaps somewhere more secluded to unwanting ears and eyes.”  
D.Va couldn’t say no to him. She smiled a little nervous but understanding. “Just finish your sundae first. You ordered that monster, now you’re going to _prove_ you’re able to finish it.” she openly challenged him, plucking the right strings of the archer’s ego, causing a weak smile to appear on Hanzo’s lips.

“ _I accept your challenge”._

__________________________________________  
  
The heat outside of the café shop was almost unbearable but the need to find a more secluded spot to talk made both Overwatch agents pull through the steaming streets of Gibraltar. They settled for a spot not far from the Watchpoint, on a small cliff semi-hidden, accessible only by a pathway that was almost hidden from everyone’s eyes. Of course Hanzo would know such a place; he used to find all kind of secluded spots near the base for when he wasn’t feeling sociable or just didn’t feel like being around the other agents.  
Both were glad to find a little shade under the lone, weirdly-bent tree that had grown there.  
“So, speak up Old man! You better spill everything and, most importantly, be concise. I love you and all, but I’m not staying much longer in this heat. I’m too young to die!” D.Va said, ending by striking a dramatic pose. That was something that Hanzo could agree to, though. She was indeed too young to die, and he too didn’t want to stand much longer in this heat, he could already feel sweat dampening his shirt. Hanzo grimaced.  
-  
Despite what previously said, Hana waited patiently for the archer to find his words. He was not facing her, preferring to gaze at the waves crashing on the rocks under them. “Jess- McCree and I….we got close. We set off on the wrong foot at first but after I realized that I could-” he bit the inside of his cheeks “Jesse managed to smash whatever defence I had set up. It was so unexpected, so new to me after all these years that at first I didn't trust him. I was scared. And the tacky cowboy had the nerve to be a reasonable person and try to start anew, putting the past behind and offering me a chance to be a person in his eyes and not just… not just a criminal, nor a kinslayer, nor a failure of a man.”

Hana glanced sideways at Hanzo's face, concerned, looking for any sign of discomfort on her friend's face, but to her relief she found little of that. “It took me a while to start trusting him, but sooner than I expected I had someone I could to talk to on bad days, someone who supported me but at the same time criticised me and my bad habits. A friend. I offered the same to him and I'm glad he trusted me as much as I trusted him. Jesse helped me a lot and I will forever grateful that he was one of the people who helped with my healing. And before you ask, you are one of those people too, Hana. In fact, I'm grateful to pretty much everyone here in Gibraltar.”

“You sappy old man...I told you countless times not to say these things! You'll make me cry and I can't stand the idea of being caught with swollen, red puffy eyes by paparazzi. I look ugly and gross when I cry.” the meka pilot said in fake-whining voice, before shouting a fake-scandalized ‘'Hey!’ when Hanzo replied with a “Yes. Yes you do.” She threw him a punch on his left tricep and grunted when her fist was met by solid muscle. They both laughed, and for a moment the serious veil that had fallen over them was lifted.

 

_Yeah, you've gone a long way, old man._

 

But then, after their laughter died off, Hana turned serious once again. “So this is where it starts to get ugly, isn’t it?” she asked and the reaction the older man had proved her right. He drew in a sharp breath, as if what he was going to say had just stabbed him in the heart; and it probably had. Clever Hana, way more intuitive that one would give her credit for at first glance. “As soon as I started to realize that even a person like myself, even after everything I had done, was permitted to love and be loved, I started to see him under another light. But admitting it had been hard at first, so we just started to dance around the others. We spent more time together, did small things just for the sake of making the other happy or smile… and we flirted. A lot.” “Oh, believe me, that didn't go unnoticed. It was so obvious that you guys were pining for each other it was making everyone sick.” A Hanzo with red-dusted cheeks nodded. She was right after all, as embarrassing as it was to admit it. “We fell in a odd routine. We'd take undercover missions and act as lovers and it just felt right. We'd...act like a couple. Do….,” he swallowed briefly “things couples do. Every time I felt like I belonged at his side and that he was meant to be at mine.” _It felt perfect._ Another sharp intake of breath and but his voice didn’t crack in the slightest “Once the mission was over, it was like nothing happened. We were back to flirty sentences, sneaky glances and sex. At first I tried to convince myself it was enough but I was just being delusional. I could see something in Jesse's eyes every time we were in bed or during a mission together, a mix of want and...concern? Fear? I-I can't quite place it. Reluctance, that I can say without doubt, a whole lot of reluctance.” Silence fell once again between them, though it could hardly be called silence with the sound of waves crashing onto the rocks under them and the singing cicadas.

 

Talking with Hana was proving to be both easier and harder than he had imagine. He would have talked with her about this sooner or later, but if it had been for him he’d have waited a little longer. Hanzo tightened the grip he had on his other hand as he remembered when he first talked about it with his brother, a few days shy of leaving Gibraltar again, two months ago. Genji had tried to put some sense in that thick skull of his but as heartbroken as he had been at the time, Hanzo hadn't listened.  


______________________

  
_“At least promise me you won't disappear. Again. I don’t know what McCree told you but please, don’t just leave like this, anija.” Genji said, removing his faceplate to look straight into his brother’s eyes. They were standing at the base's gates and Hanzo had been just about to leave. He had decided to leave early in the afternoon to avoid facing most people. He had left like that once already, two months before, completely unnoticed; the only ones who had known his exact location were Winston and Ana. Heartbroken, angry and feeling like his last hopes had been shattered, Hanzo wanted just to leave, and that providential mission had been the perfect chance to get away. He couldn’t face Genji, though; Genji who had contacted him through the comm when he had left the first time, demanding an explanation for his sudden disappearance. The archer had lied to him; he told Genji that Ana had asked him to pick up that mission (which, per se, was an half-truth. The sniper had indeed suggested that mission to Winston. “Winston, dear, accept some words of wisdom from someone older than you, both of you actually,” she had said, her eye lingering on Hanzo, a unreadable expression on her face. “He’s clearly trying to take his mind off something, to focus on a mission might do the job. And it’s definitely better than indulging in auto-destructive behaviours. We might as well assign him to that mission I was just about to lay out to you. It was meant for a maximum of two, maybe three people.” Winston, though reluctantly, had agreed into sending him alone to Italy to monitor Talon’s activities and assigned Ana as his commander for the mission.) This time, he had planned to leave before his brother’s return, who was supposed to be still on a week-long mission. Fate wanted that his brother got back just in time to catch him before he left. Genji's voice was almost as sad as his eyes and Hanzo's heart throbbed. He felt like Genji had read past his thoughts, straight in that deeper part of his mind where he had tried to seal away those dark thoughts that had never really left him. Was he going to leave them just for what happened between McCree and him? Ye-No._ **_No._ ** _No he wasn't. “Genji… I’m not disappearing anywhere. It’s just a solo mission, just like the other one and-” he tried to find an excuse but he should have known better. Should have known that Genji had been informed of what strings Hanzo had pull to get this mission. Genji's tone then suddenly shifted to something sharp and cold, much like the edge of his sword. “Hanzo. Don’t insult your and my intelligence. I knew there was something weird in this arrangement the first time you left two months ago. Overwatch doesn't usually allow solo missions, brother. You know that. Not, unless someone manages to convince Winston into allowing them to pick their own missions and basically do as they will because ‘_ **_apparently_ ** _’ this person isn't a full operative agent_ **_yet;_ ** _or should I use ‘_ **_anymore’_ ** _?” The older Shimada physically shivered. It felt as if his brother had just slashed his being with that katana of his. Why had his mind convinced him that it'd be a good idea to lie to Genji? Or to himself? Why hadn't he been wiser? He was the older brother, he should have been wiser._

_His life, though, had proved to him how unwise a man... how unwise he could be, even while constantly trying to convince himself that he was doing what was right._

 

 _Hanzo sighed, a deep and shaky breath. Somehow, he had managed to take an hold on himself and the too many clashing emotions he was feeling; he collected his thoughts instead of blurting out the first anger-induced words that had floated in his mind, all thanks to his guardian dragons that spoke to him._ _  
_ _‘_ **_Do not let anger blind you more than it already has_ ** _.’ and ‘_ **_Think and be wise_ ** _.’ they had reminded him. “Genji. When I became a full agent I accepted Overwatch's beliefs and I decided I'd fight for them because I believed that it was the right thing to do in a time like this. I did not lie about that. That feeling has not changed. I just- ...need this.” He held his brother's gaze “Have faith in me. Please.” Genji looked into his brother’s eyes and even behind all those clashing emotions he could tell that Hanzo was telling the truth. Genji’s expression and posture finally softened and he wrapped his arms around his older brother’s shoulders, pulling him into a hug. There was no need for more words; Hanzo lingered in the embrace just for a little longer before they finally parted. “Bye for now, anija. Be careful.”_

_________________

 

“After our last mission together I couldn't keep my thoughts and feelings bottled anymore. We decided to be earnest to one another and yet he was keeping things from me. I wanted more, I wanted us to be a thing. I wanted it to be official. Real. Not just… a fake cover. I sincerely wanted to know what was troubling him, I do swear that, but I reacted badly. I was an idiot first and a coward later.” Hana met his gaze and with the tiniest nod of her head he understood what her unspoken question was. ‘ _What did you ask him?’_

“I forced the argument on him. He was evasive as always and then I asked him if he truly loved me. He hesitated. That moment there made me lose it, weeks of bottled up feelings and thoughts and self-doubt washed over me and I got mad at him. I yelled at him and said many things, some I did not mean and most I regret now.” It had been storming outside on that day, the sound of waves angrily crashing on the cliffs under the base with impressive strength was still impressed in his mind, because it somehow mirrored the force he had spurted his venom-soaked words out to McCree.

 

_“What does it mean McCree?! What do you mean with ‘'I don't know’? What kind of...of bullshit is that?!”_

_“I'd rather hear a ‘'No’ come from you. What am I to you? Some sort of prize? Some sort of toy you can play with and throw aside when you finally get bored? Because I told you already once and I will tell you again, but this time I'm dead serious. I'm not going to wait for you forever. This isn't a dumb children's story nor I'll let you toy with my feelings. I'm done letting_ **_anyone_ ** _toy with them!”_

 

_“Hanzo, darlin’... Pleased Ya know I didn't mean it like that. Let's talk about this another day-”_

_“Don't pull that shit on me McCree.  We're talking about it now and if you can't bring yourself to bear this argument now, then might as well be never.”_

_He had been so selfish. McCree had always been there for him, understanding, ready to give him his advice but also minding that he needed his time and spaces. And he fucked up, blowing that kindness away because he couldn't control his selfishness. Could he really blame himself though? For wanting something he would have never dreamt of having? Find someone to love who loved him back and be with them. So simple yet so complicated, a something that had always felt so distant when thought of during his teen years and that grew to feel even more remote as he had grown older._

_Hell broke between them as they both got angrier and their argument heated._

 

 _“You just don't understand, do ya? Blinded by yer damn fucking ego, always! You used to be and you still are! Too fucking selfish to care unless it benefits you!”_  
_“Perhaps some people never change.”_

_Jesse had realized a moment too late his mistake. Anger had fueled his brain and he let it have the upper hand. The pure heartbroken look in Hanzo's eyes made him realize that and, for a moment, he forgot his own anger. The archer looked lost, like the very foundations of his being had just crumbled. It took a breath for him to switch to the broken and distant Hanzo he used to be when he first arrived at Gibraltar. He turned around and made his way towards the door._

_Jesse could have stopped him. Could have forced him to listen to reason. He should have not caused this. “Don't fucking dare to leave! We're discussing it, ain't we?! Don'tcha try running from yer problems Shimada!” but he had failed, he hadn't kept his promise to Hanzo._

_The archer had stopped on the door, Jesse's room's door; he turned his head enough to glare at the gunslinger with one eye. His gaze was almost as cold as his voice when he said “You said it moments ago, Commander McCree. Perhaps some people never change.”_

_For the next two days nobody saw Hanzo around the base and on the third day he was gone._

 

“So after then you went to Winston, managed to sign yourself up for a solo mission and left for two months.” D.Va summed up, while searching in her bag for a can of cold green tea. She took a sip and then offered it to Hanzo, who thanked her and accepted it, sipping some of the refreshing bitter liquid. Something didn't add up though, she was quick to realize. “You've been away for a total of four months and you said you went back to Italy.  Something is missing.”

The archer took another sip of the beverage before moving the can in his hand, feeling the liquid slosh around; he passed it back to his friend. “You are right yet again Hana. Yes, I came back three months ago to report. I might have used it as an excuse to get away but a mission is a mission. It took me not even a week to regret how I had treated Jesse but I wanted to talk to him in person. So, when I got back three months ago I tried to find him after finishing my reports. I tried to talk with him and apologize but it fell on deaf ears. He told me… He told me to just forget about us and about him and get on with our lives, that it'd be better for the both of us.”

Hana gasped and brought her hand to her mouth “Oh no, he didn't…”

“Yes, he did. But I accepted his decision. It hurt but I accepted it…,” he balled his hands in two fists “who am I kidding. I tried to force myself to accept it but in the end I was once again acting like a coward. I was scared that I had damaged our relationship too much and didn't want to deal with that. I left once again, the mission was over but I used yet another to excuse myself from the base. A month and there was nothing else for me to do there, the activity had died down after the others’’ intervention one week later after my report. I couldn't come back here, even though I started calling this place home so I decided to keep myself busy. I didn't want my brain to wander to dangerous places. I didn't want to think that if I couldn't come back here I would have nowhere to go.” Hanzo glanced at Hana and smiled sadly at her. He opened up his arms and allowed her to wrap her arms around his torso and hug him. “Thanks. I know you are going to ask why I came back. It is simple. I missed you all. I missed this place, having my brother close… I realized that it was time I finally stopped running from my problems.”

They stayed like that for a while, until it got too hot and uncomfortable to stay that close. Hana was the first one to stand up and she smiled at Hanzo, offering her hand to him “Then join us to celebrate my comeback. Who cares if there's Jesse there. We're gonna have a great time! Great food, great music, courtesy of Lucio of course, and great company. We all missed you, _ajeossi._ ”

He took her hand and stood up. To his surprise he noticed that her grip had gotten stronger. She must have been working out… which wasn't really a novelty since everyone knew that Brigitte loved a good workout and often D.Va would join her girlfriend in the gym.

 

Looking straight into Hana's expectant brown eyes and considering her (wise) words, he finally made his decision. “Yes, I will come.”

“Yas! I'm number one!” she cried as she pumped her right fist up in the air. Hanzo was just about to ask her if he could help with something but she preceded him “Beach party, in two days, I want you at the base's gates at 0900 tomorrow. Sharp. Me, you, Brig and Fareeha are going to pick up some of the things we ordered.”

Hanzo frowned, he did not expect the party to be this close. Then, a cold shiver ran down his back and he swallowed thickly before he spoke and marked his sentence “I don't have a proper beach attire.” A few moments later he regretted saying it out loud and he felt as he had just signed a contract with the Devil itself. Hana was grinning and there was a strange gleam in her eyes “Oh-ho~ I guess you know what that means… _lucky_ for you we can take some time to find you something to wear.” The archer raised an eyebrow and stared down at her, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “Please. I know you couldn't wait to drag me shopping with you and act as my fashion advisor.” She _tut-ted_ and wiggled her finger in front of him “That’s where you’re wrong my friend. I don't _‘act’_ as your fashion advisor. I **am**.”

 


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [...]“Good morning, Fareeha.” Hanzo slightly bowed his head at her when he was close enough. He was greeted by a smile when she emerged back from under the truck, a streak of oil running across her nose, down her left cheek. “Long time no see! I thought you had ran somewhere and finally settled down, a small cottage house in one of the best neighborhoods.” she said, a cheeky smile on her lips while standing up and throwing the wrench she had been holding in a nearby open toolbox.  
> “Not a chance.” the archer replied,[...]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be a One-shot. Turned out to be around 14K words. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

The day after, a Friday, Hanzo showed up at the base's gates a good fifteen minutes earlier. As if **he** ’d ever be late. “Welcome back Agent Shimada,” Athena’s polite, synthetic voice greeted him while lowering the invisible force shield around the base and opening the gates to let him in “Agent Pharah is waiting for you at the ‘Garage N.2’ in ‘Block D’. Agent Song and Agent Lindholm will join you there soon.” Hanzo bowed slightly and thanked her with a small, polite smile “Thank you Athena, for the welcome and for the notice.” Hanzo adjusted the case on his back while he waited. “Would you require my assistance to reach the Block D Agent Shimada?” the A.I. politely offered, just as he started walking past the gates; the archer shook lightly his head “No, thank you Athena. I still remember where it is located.” The A.I. replied with a simple “Affirmative.” and his comm went silent.  
‘Block D’ was just a short walk away, being the block closest to the gates, also where the sleeping quarters were located. Hanzo stopped midstep and glanced at the building in front of him, frowning.  He had stayed in a hotel room for the past four days, unsure of what to do. A part of him wanted to come back to base as soon as possible but the irrational part of his mind would often whisper that maybe he shouldn’t go there just yet. Especially at night, when he couldn’t sleep. ...Ever since he left the base he had started having trouble sleeping again. A small yet strong sense of homesickness wrapped around his insides.  
This was the closest thing to a home he had, he wasn’t going to renounce so easily to it. He was going to come back that very day. Feeling slightly lighter, as if a rock had been removed from his soul, Hanzo continued his stroll through the courtyard between blocks ‘C’ and ‘D’.

“Greetings!” Fareeha greeted him, waving her occupied hand at him. She must have spotted him from quite some meters of distance. Her and that enhanced vision of hers.

  
\- _“Y’know, I’m up in the sky 90% of the time. It’s like… trying to aim at ants. You don’t aim at ants. That’s why I fire rockets._ **_Fucking_ ** _rockets, Hanzo!_ **_Fucking. Rockets._ ** _And sometimes I don’t even hit the mark! Well, yeah, most of the time the explosion does enough damage but y’know… I still miss sometimes. And each time I miss it’s like I’m burning money. Do you know how fucking_ **_expensive_ ** _rockets are?!” Fareeha then laughed, spilling some of her drink over herself. “Aw, fuck-! Eh, who cares, I needed to do some laundry anyway.”_ _  
_ _She had downed up the remaining of the drink before slamming the empty glass on the table in front of her. “So Ana told you to get enhancements for your vision? That’s a good idea.” Hanzo had replied, downing what little of his own drink was left. She sneered “Yeah, I hate to admit she was right but hell, she was! No point in telling her I admitted it, she already knows. Mom’s seventh sense, also called ‘When I’m yet again right and my daughter knows it but won’t ever admit it in my face because she doesn’t want to give me the satisfaction’ sense.” They were both very drunk. It was one of the first times they had interacted on friendly terms and outside of a mission. Usually Fareeha wouldn’t seek out Hanzo’s company, nor Hanzo would seek hers; they used to be mostly on neutral, polite terms but thanks to a little prodding from both Jesse and Ana they had managed to warm up to each other. Hanzo had discovered she possessed a great sense of humor, much like her mother, and he quite enjoyed it. Plus, she had great taste in music and movies and those were points extra._

  |    
---|---  
  
“Good morning, Fareeha.” Hanzo slightly bowed his head at her when he was close enough. He was greeted by a smile when she emerged back from under the truck, a streak of oil running across her nose, down her left cheek. “Long time no see! I thought you had ran somewhere and finally settled down, a small cottage house in one of the best neighborhoods.” she said, a cheeky smile on her lips while standing up and throwing the wrench she had been holding in a nearby open toolbox.  
“Not a chance.” the archer replied, fishing for a napkin in his purse and handing it out to her. Fareeha thanked him and gladly accepted it, cleaning her face and her hands on it. While it helped, her hands were still kind of oily and dirty so she excused herself for a couple of minutes, going to the shed just outside of the garage to finish cleaning herself. Once she was back, Hanzo left the case in one of the metal cabinets in the garage and they took a seat in the back of the pick-up. He didn’t like to be separated from his bow but he couldn’t always carry it around; he wasn’t going to go around unarmed though, he had a pistol in his purse and he knew Fareeha and Hana would bring one each too.  
They started chatting. She didn’t tell him she had missed him, but he knew that she had. Pharah knew he knew, so there was no to tell him. Another quality of her he liked.  
“So, you back for good this time?” she asked him. Hanzo nodded, without hesitation this time “Yes. I’m back for good.” The younger Amari smiled and stretched her arms and back “Nnnh- good! I hope Jesse will stop moping around now that you’re back.” His heart skipped a beat and his eyes went wide. She noticed his sudden silence and glanced at him with a questioning expression. It took her a little to proceed everything in her mind but then she sneered “Pfft, you really thought I wasn’t aware that something happened between the two of you? Please. Jesse’s like a brother to me. He might try hide thing from me as much as he wants but the shifts in his mood, as hard to catch as they might be, are enough for me to deduce if something is wrong.” She was being cocky about it, but to Hanzo, she had every right to be. “I noticed the biggest shifts when you disappeared for the first time four months ago. Then again two months ago and one recently, just yesterday afternoon, when D.Va got back to base, literally yelling you were back. So yeah, it’s not a surprise anymore, sorry.”  
Hanzo let out a breath he hadn’t notice he had been holding. This was… actually good news. She hadn’t prodded and Jesse hadn’t told anyone about what happened. The only people who might know something were the ones closest to either of them. “I wasn’t really going for surprising you with my return, but I guess I have to thank Hana for that.”

Wait a second.  
If she knew, why wasn’t she even the slightest mad at him? After all, he was partly the cause Jesse had been feeling down-  
No. No, something was off. How could Jesse be feeling down when he had been the one who had told him to forget about everything?

 

**_-“How would you know, young one? You have not talked with your partner since then and believed him in a moment of weakness, without even doubting if he was speaking the truth or those were just words spoken out of shame and fear.”_ **

His guardian spirits were right.  
  
Hanzo swallowed and parted his lips to speak, but they felt so dry. His heart was beating a little faster and even though he was trying to convince himself that it couldn’t be possible, he felt a droplet of hope settling inside.  He had to lick at his lips before talking “What- what do you mean by moping?” he asked, trying to force his tone to be as neutral as possible and sound as uninterested as possible. Pharah clearly hadn’t bought it but she spared him. “Uh? Well, it’s been two months and sometimes he’ll just get this lost puppy look on his face when he thinks nobody’s looking. He has ‘regret’ written all over his face. I even had to bring him to Angela because it seems like he thought drowning regret in alcohol was a great idea. Angela was seriously pissed at him that day. She thought he had stopped trying to cope by drinking too much.” She noticed he was pending from her every word and decided that she’d be kind to the archer “I promised him I wouldn’t tell anybody but- when I was carrying his heavy, smelly ass, he muttered something that sounded vaguely like ‘I miss ‘im so much ‘Reeha. He’s gone and it’s all my fault.” That was the general sense of what he had told her, but there was actually more. She wasn’t going to tell Hanzo though, he didn’t need to hear all of that coming from her. She was pretty confident they’d get to talk and work it out.

A still disbelieving looking Hanzo couldn’t stop staring at her. There was no point for her to be lying, so maybe he should...embrace this feeling of hope that had started growing inside of him. A voice in the dark corners of his mind was trying to convince him not to believe her words, not to trust her; that he was alone now and he should only keep grieving about what he had done. Because it had been his fault. Hanzo bit his lower lip. ‘I will **not** let my insecurities and my cowardness interfere again.’ was what he told to himself and the thought pierced that voice in the dark just as one of his arrows would pierce his enemies. It fell silent.  
The archer realized this was his best chance to gather informations, to know why McCree had been so insecure of commitment. Fareeha must know something. He might as well try to ask her. “Do you happen to know why he’s so scared of commitment? We...we fought over it. I was insensitive, true, but there was clearly something he wasn’t telling me. Could it be some sort of trauma?”. His voice was so sincere Fareeha actually felt bad for him; “I don’t know much myself,” she started, while adjusting one of the golden beads on her front bangs “I can only assume from what I saw while growing up. Jess hasn’t told me anything about this particular issue. Perhaps he felt it wasn’t important back then and then he became so invested with you that he didn’t realize until he had to come to terms with it.” She then raised her head and noticed two figures walking towards them and knew they had to cut their chat short. “My mother might know more but want some honest advice? Just talk to him. I could read it in his eyes and I can read it in yours. You miss him, and he misses you. You better make things right, I don’t want two more sad, moping middle-aged men around. Oh, and remember my threat is still valid. You make him suffer, I make you suffer. No, this time doesn’t qualify, you’re obviously hurt too.”

If Hanzo wanted to say something back, he didn’t get the chance because a very energetic Hana greeted them with a huge, beaming smile. “Morning, morning! Ready for our shopping trip?”  
Brigitte smiled and waved at him from behind the chestnut-haired; her copper hair was still a bit damp. “Sorry, we’re kinda late. We were going to shower after hitting the gym but Papa intercepted us and held us for a while.”

“We’re a little late on the schedule but I guess you two got lucky. This old truck wouldn’t start so I had to check it. I tried to convince Jack to let us use one of the newer vehicles but he’s way too attached to this old pick-up. He says that it’s thanks to it that the very first beach party of Overwatch could take place and it had been used to pick up groceries ever since. Mom, Reinhardt and Torbjörn backed him up so I guess it is true. Still, it doesn’t explain why he treats it like it’s his baby. It’s gross.” They shared a laugh before Fareeha deadpanned at Hana and Brigitte “Ah, breakfast and lunch is on you two.” Neither of them dared reply to that. Well, Hana tried to but she was stopped by Brigitte, who all but pull her in the backseat while laughing nervously. Hanzo sat in the passenger seat and then they waited for Pharah to run the last checks on the old petrol pick-up. “Alright, we’re ready to go!” she announced after hopping in the driver seat. “Belts on, please. We have no emergency exits. If you feel sick, sorry about that and please, try not to puke on the mats or the seats, I don’t want to hear Jack whine about it. Your pilot- whoops, _driver_ wishes you a pleasant journey!” she concluded and started the car’s engine. Once at the front of the main gate she waited for Athena to let them through and put in the truck’s stereo an old cd. Hanzo relaxed in his seat while the notes of an old but popular rock song that he remembered being one of Fareeha’s favourites started playing.  
A sudden instinct told him to look outside the car window and he decided to follow it. His eyes met another, very familiar pair, one had missed a lot and had straight haunted him. Jesse was standing a few meters away, carrying some sort of box. Time froze for a moment for both of them and both their hearts skipped a beat. Hanzo’s now tasted hope, Jesse’s ached. The gunslinger ended up almost tripping over as he lost balance after stepping on a rogue rock. Hanzo had to bring two of his fingers up to cover his lips, trying to conceal his chuckle. He truly hadn’t intended to laugh at him almost falling over but he couldn’t help himself. It had reminded him of when the other man had tried showing off and had tripped in that same spot. Probably on that same rock.  
Jesse all but expected to see Hanzo chuckle. He had expected some sort of glacial frown. A dark voice in his mind told him that Hanzo was laughing at him, at how ridiculous he must have looked. Did he really? He couldn’t bring himself to fully believe that, not when he saw the earnest look in the other’s eyes. Hanzo’s eyes were so earnest when he was caught by surprise. The cowboy stood there, box in hands, watching the pick-up leave down the hill.  
He was back, Hana had said so just the day before. Once he had lost sight of the truck, he turned around and started heading to the secluded beach they were going to have the party at. He needed to assemble the barbecue before joining the others in the ‘Food team’ and lend them a hand. He could use the time alone to think, because there was no way in Hell Jesse McCree, agent of Overwatch,( actually one of its Commanders now), a man with quite the bounty still on his head, on the threshold of his forties was going to pass on such a clear sign of fate. Maybe, just maybe, he hadn’t lost everything. “Looks like Lady Luck’s smiling” he muttered to himself.  
______________

 

The quartet’s shopping trip went flawlessly. They had a great time, even if Hanzo wouldn’t admit it at first, especially since all three women had decided he’d get not **one** but **three** fashion advisors. Hanzo suspected the three of them had made him try on outfits just for the sake of being annoying, but in the end he was satisfied with what he bought and, though begrudgingly, even admitted that they were great fashion advisors. (Save for Brigitte. The poor girl was terrible at fashion but he didn’t have the heart to tell her. He wasn’t that cold-hearted. Even Hana had toned down picking on her girlfriend’s taste in the matter of clothes and was trying to help her instead.)

After a quick meal together Athena had notified them that it was time to pick up the groceries they had ordered and since the delivery was already a bit late, they had to hurry there. Luckily, they had Fareeha as their driver.  
They used all the space in the back of the pick-up and when they were finally done they were all sweating like crazy. “Do you mind if we stop at the hotel where I’m staying? I need to pick up my luggage.” Hanzo had said just before they left. He felt uncomfortable with three pairs of eyes on himself. “Did I say something weird?” Hanzo asked, perhaps a little too innocently. The other three laughed in unison and left him frowning at them, sincerely confused. Finally Fareeha replied to him, wiping a couple of tears from her eyes, voice still broken by chuckles “Haha- no Hanzo, it’s nothing, really! No problem, just give me the address and I’ll get you there in no time!”  
He gave her the address and just as she promised him, they got there in less than the nav had estimated.  
They finally got back to base and Athena greeted them before letting them in. Fareeha parked in front of Block C, just as some other exited from the building. “Cheers love! The cavalry’s here!” the bubbly brit greeted them, appearing in front of them in a blink of an eye. When she saw Hanzo she squealed and hugged him. Hanzo, who wasn’t really expecting it, froze for a moment. He used to dislike physical touch but he had grown accustomed to these random displays of affection and he even enjoyed them at times. “Hanzo! Welcome back luv!” Lena squealed and squeezed him even harder, though she was having a bit of trouble wrapping her arms completely around him. The archer spotted the Brit’s girlfriend sighing and shaking her head in the distance while walking towards them along with the rest of the group that had come out from the building. Tracer stepped back and her smile was as bright as alway “I thought you guys could use some extra hands so I brought them! By the way, thanks Athena!” The A.I.’s voice came from her comm “You are welcome Agent Tracer”. The group had reached them by then. “You can exchange all the welcomes and even chit-chat later, we’re late on the schedule and there’s still all the food to prepare,” said Ana as she got close and offered a smile to all of them, “Brigitte, Hana, dears, you two follow Rein and Zenyatta and help them carry the beverages. Mei’s already waiting for you.” Said two nodded and Hana even said something that sounded like “Roger that Granny!”, to which Ana replied with an amused chuckle and a shake of her head “Honestly…”  
While the others started picking up and carrying some of the boxes, Ana turned to look at Jack, Genji and Zarya who had already started unloading the rest of the boxes and carrying some of them. Fareeha picked up a couple of boxes herself and started following them; Lena and Emily did as well. Once Hanzo and Ana were left alone, she smiled at him and patted his shoulder before walking past him “You know, I made a bet with the others yesterday. Looks like this old woman is still good at gambling.” She lifted up a box and then motioned to the box left standing next to her “I’m glad you’re back, but as I said before, there’s much work to be done and we’re late so chop-chop!”  
Hanzo chuckled and in a few steps he was next to her, picking up the box. Then he remembered he had yet to retrieve his bow from the garage; she seemed to have read his mind “No need, we already retrieved it and brought it back into your sleeping quarters. We also cleaned and dusted them. No need to thank me.”  
Hanzo was at a loss of words for a moment but then sighed as a smile appeared on his lips and he started following the sniper. “Thank you, Commander Ana.” he taunted her. The woman sneered and he swore she would have flipped him the bird if she hadn’t been carrying that box with both hands. “Oh, fuck off Shimada.” They were both chuckling as they entered the main building of ‘Block C’. Genji was waiting for them just past the first door. His smile was also bright. Hanzo stopped, while Ana kept walking “Don’t be late boys or you’ll pay the consequences!” she called before disappearing behind another door.  
The brothers stared into each other’s eyes. Hanzo bowed slightly forward “ _Tadaima, otouto_.” Genji bowed as well “ _Okaeri, anija_.”

 _'Yes,'_ Hanzo thought as he and Genji started walking together, ' _I'm home.'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Totally Accurate Translations pt.2: “I’m back home, brother.” “Welcome back, brother.”


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [...]Jesse kept watching Hanzo as he walked back to his umbrella, wanted to stop him, and almost did so before Fareeha stepped in front of him. “Ribs, yes, the spicy ones -of course Jess!- and grilled eggplants too.” She had a cocky smile on her lips. While he worked to fill her plate she glanced behind her shoulder, in Hanzo’s direction. “Why don’t you just go there and talk to him?” she asked. “You make it sound so easy-” he tried to reply but Fareeha interrupted him “That’s because it is this easy Jesse. [...]"  
> [...] She smiled sympathetically and reached over to pat his shoulder “Jess, you’re overthinking. It isn’t like you at all. Have some faith in yourself!” and then gave him a friendly squeeze. “I’m taking over your spot! You go to him! And before you start complaining I’ll let you know that I’ve picked up enough to be more than decent at grilling. Just go have some fun and don’t worry 'till dinnertime!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter. I tried making it shorter but hey, I guess my hands slipped. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> Expect some feels (do I even know how to write angst? ...nope.), light sexual innuendos and two dorks over fourty.
> 
> Note: Ceuta’s a Spanish autonomous city located on the north coast of Africa. It’s like… in front of Gibraltar.  
> .  
> .  
> Also Angela is so done with everyone. Always remember to put sunscreen on before sunbathing folks!  
> Hope you enjoy this chapter!

The morning arrived sooner than expected. Hanzo woke up in the familiar surrounding of his room, feeling refreshed after a good night of sleep. He hadn’t slept like that for months. After a quick trip to the bathroom he decided he’d hit the gym to start the day. He changed into sweatpants and a tank top before looking at the new clothes he had picked to wear for the beach party while he tying up his hair in the usual bun. Hanzo decided to bring them along; he’d use the showers in the gym and change there, there was no point in going back and forth. At 0630 he didn’t expect to see many faces around but he was proven wrong. Aside from the usual group who hit the gym early in the morning (consisting of Zarya, Reinhardt and Fareeha), he crossed paths with Angela and Genji. She looked quite pissed but bid him good morning nonetheless, even with a small smile before heading towards the mess’s kitchen. He shot his brother a questioning look. “Cooking duty. Angela loathes it. She’s threatening of removing Ana’s good eye and swap it with a googly-eye. While the image is funny, we need Ana’s good eye.” his brother replied quickly before dashing after the doctor.    
The rest of the team had already welcomed him back the day before at dinner but Reinhardt went in for another round, along with a bone-crushing hug. He didn’t realize how much he had missed exercising along with the other until then. After a good hour of workout, he hit the shower and changed into his swimsuit and beach clothes. “Looking good my friend!” Reinhardt complimented him “I bet you’ll have no problems making a certain someone fall to your charms!”. Hanzo felt his cheeks and the back of his neck turn hot. He searched Fareeha’s eyes but she simply shook her head. She hadn’t told him anything. Hanzo frowned. It was really that obvious, wasn’t it?   
He and the younger Amari walked outside and started heading towards the kitchen. They might use some extra hands. “You know what?” he blurted out all of a sudden, in the middle of the hallway “I’m fucking done. I am going to talk to Jesse, whatever it takes. We both messed up, I’ve accepted my mistakes and I seriously want to apologize to him for that. If I keep on placing all the blames on me I won’t stop moping, ever. I want to talk to him and make things right. If he really doesn’t want us to be together I’ll respect his decision but I have to hear it from he and he has to be convincing. I am not going to fall for another lie.” Fareeha stared at him, dumbfounded for a good couple of seconds. “You go Hanzo! You know, we’re all secretly cheering for you two. It has never been a secret that you two had something going on.”

_____________________

Around 1000 the whole Overwatch team met at the beach. Hanzo had spotted this lonely beach some time after his first arrival at the Watchpoint but had never actually ventured down the cliffs to reach it. He definitely didn’t remember any stairs leading down there. As he and Genji made their way down the pristine white hard light stairs, his brother told him that they had been a recent addition, courtesy of Symmetra. That much he could have guessed alone, the entirety of the stair had her unmistakable personal touch. She had done an impeccable work as always.    
“So, how are you doing to do this Hanzo? I mean- you can’t avoid McCree for the whole day. He’s on grill duty with Jack and Rein. I doubt you can avoid him, unless you don’t want to eat. And no, I won’t pity you. You’ll get your own food.” Genji had said while they were midway down the stairs.    
Hanzo had put on his best smug smile “Oh, that’s pretty simple Genji. I’m not going to avoid him. He has fallen for me once, he will fall again and this time I won’t let him get away until we settle this thing between us.” Genji was a little surprised; he had expected for his brother to take a little longer before trying to settle things with McCree. He surely didn't expect Hanzo to recover that quickly. “Well, if that’s the case if you need any help just come ask me and I'll do my best.”    
While Hanzo was confident in his looks and knew how to flirt with the cowboy, he was unsure if he needed help or a plan at all to commence withm. ‘ _ Perhaps I shouldn’t try too hard. I don't need to scare Jesse away, nor do I need to make a fool out of myself.’  _ he thought, reaching the end of the stair. He felt sand starting to make its way under his feet and groaned.   
  


The beach wasn’t very spacious but they had managed to make it work; the food and drinks area had been set near the rocky wall of the cliff, under a rather large gazebo. The barbecue itself took a good third of the gazebo and from what Hanzo could see, it had to be custom-made. It was heinous. Having noticed his staring, Torbjörn had explained to him that it had been around for years and each time they used it, some sort of alteration would be added to improve its performances. Hanzo also discovered that the barbecue’s official nickname was ‘Frankenstein’s Monster Barbecue’; Ana though, told him that it had another unofficial name, though they didn’t use it much anymore. ‘Gabito’. “It was Gabriel’s. He was very jealous of it. Only Jack was allowed to use it, aside from him. They used to always debate over marinades and sauces. I swear, I had to dart them to sleep a couple of times after they started to literally brawl and throw dishes.” She was wearing a pair of sunglasses but he could tell she was frowning. “They  **dared** waste my delicious sauces.”

 

Next to the barbecue were a couple tables, and just as the stair, made of hard light, with numerous bowls, trays and dishes on top. Finally, the last third had been occupied by something that looked like a commercial cooler, which had a pad and a display with Athena’s logo on it. He didn’t even have to guess that it was the beverages’ area. The fire was already going, tended by what had officially labeled the ‘Grill Team’. Hanzo couldn’t help himself, seeing Jesse wearing an open shirt made him feel lost and his heart ache for a moment, but it didn’t last much, given how he felt it throb then, his cheeks heating up. He tried to hide it but their eyes met for a brief second. This time it was Jesse who looked lost; the cowboy bit his lower lip, a gesture imperceptible to most, but that Hanzo had grown used to spot, a sign of uneasiness. ‘ _ Is he trying to say something?’  _ the archer had just the time to think before he was kidnapped by Hana. “You’ll check out what’s on the menu later!” she said, loud enough to be heard even from Ceuta and Morocco.    
  
‘ _ I’ll be damned but I can recognize a flush when I see one’  _ Jesse thought, wiping some sweat from his cheeks, which felt  _ hotter  _ than before; definitely, it wasn’t being in front of the fire’s fault. He might have missed this chance but he had the whole day to find the perfect chance to talk with Hanzo.

  
  


  
A good hour later officially started. Lúcio raised the volume of the music from his station, loud enough to be heard over the waves crashing against the rocks but not loud enough to be unpleasant. Hanzo settled under one of the many beach umbrellas, one of the few old-fashioned things present there. The case holding his bow was tucked under the chaise longue and a blue towel was put on the cold surface of the white chaise longue. He removed his clothes, grimacing when he thought that he’d find sand everywhere for the next few days. Hanzo fished in his purse to get the sunscreen bottle; it wasn’t as hot as the past two days but the sun was high and he’d rather not get sunburnt. Angela actually made sure to remind everyone. She had a megaphone in her hand and her eyes were darting from agent to agent. “Jesse McCree, you forgot to put sunscreen on your face. Put some extra on your nose.” Hanzo might have sneaked a glance while chuckling, while squeezing some of the lotion onto his hands.    
“Jack, put that damn sunscreen on.”

 

Genji took the spot next to him, opening a chair and plopping himself down there. The cyborg had most of his armor off and both his human parts and his synthetic skin were glistening. Looks like he had been forced to put sunscreen on too. Angela had done such a good work.   
“Need help with your back?” Genji offered and extended his hand. Hanzo nodded and handed him the bottle, turning to give his brother access to his back. When he was greasier than one Bacon’n’Bacon’n’Bacon dish, he put a pair of sunglasses, aid down on the chaise longue and let his eyes wander. Someone was already running towards the shore to go for a swim, Brigitte and Fareeha were setting up a volleyball net while Satya helped delimiting the field. She said something about making sure it was perfectly symmetrical, as to not give anyone unfair advantage or an headache to her. He watched as Ana put a huge hat over her head and started inflating a beach ball. Maybe he’d even get up to play later, but for now it was finally time to relax a little. He didn’t even noticed dozing off; Hanzo never let himself doze off, unless he felt sort of safe. Having his brother next to him and all the other agents surely helped. And the heat from the sun was quite pleasant.

 

“Hanzo’s sleeping?! You have to be kidding me!” Tracer tried her best not to yell, her voice ending up an octave higher. “Shh, quieter,” Genji murmured, bringing one finger to his lips. Hanzo didn’t know for how long he slept, but he started returning to his senses when he heard voices and several presence around. He couldn’t quite make out what those voice were saying, though he could recognize them by the familiar timbre. The pleasant warmth, the sound of the waves and the sweet breeze kept him floating in that muffled boundary line between waking up and sleep. He could hear footsteps approaching too slowly, almost ominously,to be someone simply walking; he frowned in his half-sleep but didn’t wake up.    
  
His eyes shot open when he felt cold water come in contact with his warm skin and even let out a scream. He jolted up in a sitting position and his sunglasses slid down his nose. Nobody had ever seen him with such a surprised and confused expression. It didn’t take much for all the people looking to start laughing. Two people of all were laughing so hard they started wheezing. Hana and Lúcio were sitting on the sand, tears in their eyes. Hanzo growled, his expression shifting quickly to a ominous one. “Oh shit- RUN!” Genji yelled and the two young agents had just a moment to recover from their laughing fit; their survival instincts kicked in and they both quickly scrambled up on their feet and scattered. Hanzo was up in the blink of an eye and dashed after them. Nobody worried to stop them, instead laughing and cheering either for the two young ones or for Hanzo; Ana merely lowered her sunglasses an inch while sipping a drink. Lúcio proved to be the smarter of the duo, running towards the shore and diving in. Hana just kept running but Hanzo caught up soon. She tried to plea while the archer lifted her up over his shoulder but as he started walking towards the shore she knew that there was no talking her way out of it. Hana started wriggling, trying her best to free herself; she realized she had overlooked something crucial: she too had been sunbathing and her skin was hot to the touch. 

“Oh no. No, nonononono, pleas-!” she yelled as she was thrown in the cold sea water. “Hhhhhhhhh!” Hana screamed in a very high-pitched voice when she resurfaced, a few algaes on her head an horrified look on her face.

Laughter once again filled the air. 

  
  


Around 1300 the sunlight started being a little too hot to be standing directly under it. That and Reinhardt’s booming voice announced that it was finally time to eat. They all moved towards the gazebo and after everyone had their fill, everyone picked a spot shielded from the sun to eat. Hanzo went straight to McCree and handed him his plate. Jesse was a bit at loss of words at first but then he cleared his throat and took Hanzo’s dish; his fingers brushed briefly against Hanzo’s hand. “Do you already know what to pick Agent-,” Jesse started but was interrupted by Hanzo “What would you suggest, Jesse? I came to you know because I believe you still remember my taste. Plus, your meat is the juiciest.” Jesse tried his best not to choke on his own breath; from the back of the gazebo someone sputtered part of the drink, and someone else muttered “Holy shit he’s going all-in!” under their breath.

**_A critical hit_ ** **.** Jesse’s cheeks and ears flared up and he was glad he was holding the dish with his prosthetic arm or he’d have probably dropped it. “I...uh- here, lemme get ya something real special”. Jesse filled his dish and handed it back to him. “It’s perfect, thank you” Hanzo thanked him and for a moment just stood there, both their eyes locking on the other’s. He saw something shift between Jesse’s brown eyes: determination, then insecurity and once again determination. He needed a push.   
“You know, I’m glad you didn’t dye your hair this year. It wasn’t bad but I like their natural look better.” It has been a while since he last flirted with Jesse, he wondered if he was doing it right.    
Hanzo had no plan of action; he just decided to go in with his instinct.    
Jesse had no plan of action; he just decided to go with the flow. He was either going to sail away or drown.    
Jesse kept watching Hanzo as he walked back to his umbrella, wanted to stop him, and almost did so before Fareeha stepped in front of him. “Ribs, yes, the spicy ones -of course Jess!- and grilled eggplants too.” She had a cocky smile on her lips. While he worked to fill her plate she glanced behind her shoulder, in Hanzo’s direction. “Why don’t you just go there and talk to him?” she asked. “You make it sound so easy-” he tried to reply but Fareeha interrupted him “That’s because it is this easy Jesse. You saw him with your own eyes, he isn’t holding a grudge on you. If he was he wouldn’t have flirted with you. Twice.” Jesse let out a long sigh. She was right.    
She was right but he still didn’t feel like he could just do that. “I’m a lil’ scared ‘Reeha. I don’t think I’ll be able to find the right words if I talk to him. I want him to understand why, I want to tell him but- ‘M downright terrible when it comes to words.”    
She smiled sympathetically and reached over to pat his shoulder “Jess, you’re overthinking. It isn’t like you at all. Have some faith in yourself!” and then gave him a friendly squeeze. “I’m taking over your spot! You go to him! And before you start complaining I’ll let you know that I’ve picked up enough to be more than decent at grilling. Just go have some fun and don’t worry for dinnertime!” She wouldn’t have accepted a ‘no’ so Jesse was left with no other option than surrender. After getting some food for himself, he found himself drawn to look in the archer’s direction. He had missed him so much and each day that had passed had him live knowing he had fucked up not once but twice. Still, the day before he had some hope restored and he’s been clinging on that feeling since then. He clenched his prosthetic hand in a fist; what was he doing? ‘Reeha was right, this wasn’t like him at all. Looking quickly around himself he spotted Zenyatta reaching in the cooler to take out two cold beers; the omnic monk turned around and noticed him. “Sometimes what is small is seen as impossibly big but it is not unlike playing around with mirrors to make a kitten look as big as a kitten” Zenyatta offered him his words of wisdom while handing him the two cold cans of beer. “I would also advise you to find a more private, intimate spot to talk heart to heart. Don’t stand directly under the sun and drink plenty of water! It’s important for you humans to stay hydrated.” The monk waved at him before returning inside the gazebo. Jesse glanced at the beer and smiled to himself. How did that saying go? Nothing ventured, nothing gained?   
Oh, if he was going to venture. With some luck, even gain.

 

“Mind if I take a seat here?”   
Hanzo lifted his sunglasses to look up at the gunslinger, who had walked up to him. “Sure,” he replied before taking another forkful of that delicious meat after dipping it in on of Ana’s sublime sauces. “Thought you’d like something cold to drink. Hope beer’s fine,” Jesse said and handed Hanzo a beer. If Hanzo intentionally made his fingers brush against Jesse’s hand...well, yes, he did. “That’s very considerate of you, cowboy.” The archer put carefully his dish down on his legs “Thank you.” Hanzo cracked it partially open and waited for the  _ hiss _ to quiet down before removing finishing the job. He waited for Jesse to open his and they made their cans click together. “Cheers.” “Kanpai.”   
The cold beer had been an excellent idea, both discovered. They quietly sat together under the umbrella, eating and sipping at their beers. It got quite awkward after a while and Jesse felt the need to speak up. “I...missed you.” he admitted, taking another long sip from the can. “Hanzo I- I wanted to… uh, remember what I said when you came back two months ago?” Bad move. Jesse immediately realized that and regretted having said it. Quickly his eyes darted up to search for any sign of discomfort, or anger, on the archer’s handsome face.

“Yes, I do remember,” Hanzo replied, voice calm, controlled, raising just an eyebrow at him.  _ What was Jesse doing? _

Jesse ran his flesh hand through his hair. He was really hopeless, was he? Why was he feeling so jumpy? He felt like a teenager trying to apologize for something but lacking the courage to do so. He wasn’t a goddamn teenager anymore for God’s sake.

Jesse stood up and Hanzo thought it’d end there; he could already taste bitterness in his mouth. But Jesse didn’t walk away, offering him his right hand instead. “I need to talk to you, but not here. Do you...want to?” ‘ _ Do you still trust me? _ ’ Without a second thought Hanzo grabbed Jesse’s hand and used it as a leverage to stand up. He actually used way more strength than intended, ending up quite close to Jesse, almost chest to chest. Brown met brown. How had he missed looking this close into Jesse’s eyes… the wrinkles around his eyes, the many freckles brought out by the harsh sun on his dark skin… Hanzo wanted nothing more to kiss him but he knew it wasn’t time, yet. 

  
  


The duo had to climb over a couple rocks to reach a more secluded spot of the beach; they could still see the others but at least they were far enough for their voices to be only background noise. Silently they both sat on one flat rock and enjoyed the sounds of the sea. It brought peace to both of them. Neither knew who should speak up first; they both wanted to apologize but they kept hesitating. In the end, they ended up speaking at the same time “Jesse-!” “Hanzo-!” They both got surprised by their ridiculous timed synchronism and ended up chuckling and smiling. “I missed yer smile,” Jesse said, reaching for Hanzo’s hand, his fingers brushing tentatively his, asking for his permission; Hanzo complied, parting his fingers and taking the lead, intertwining them with Jesse’s. “The feeling is mutual. I’ve wanted nothing more than to be able to be close to you again. I regretted storming out like that already two days after leaving. For two months I grieved over it but on the eve of my return I decided I wanted to apologize and try to things out.” Hanzo said, his fingers squeezing affectionately the gunslinger’s. They were so warm and their touch was so familiar. “I will admit it, when you told me to just forget about everything that had happened between us you broke my heart again-” “-I know and I’m so sorry for that Han-” Jesse interrupted him, voice so earnest and full of regret that Hanzo felt his stomach tighten. Hanzo calmly scolded Jesse before continuing his spiel “You broke my heart again only because I believe your words. I should have known better, I shouldn’t have let my emotions take the upper hand again but I guess the wound in my heart hadn’t healed properly yet so I won’t apologize for how I acted then. I could have tried talking to you, perhaps, but I didn’t know any better.” Hanzo looked up at the clear blue sky, devoid of any clouds; he felt so at peace, finally able to say what he had been holding for months.  “I decided to respect your will but I never wanted to forget what we had. They’re memories too precious for me to forget about them.”   
Then, he heard sniffling sounds coming from his side. Jesse’s fingers were shaking. Fat tears rolled down Jesse’s cheeks and Hanzo wished he hadn’t been the cause of them. His arms wrapped around Jesse and he let the American lay his forehead against his chest. Maybe a joke would lighten the mood “Jesse… don’t cry. There’s already enough salty water in the sea.”   
McCree chuckled between his sniffles. “What have I done to deserve you? ...do I still deserve you?” he asked, a question more for himself than for Hanzo, but the archer replied anyway, his hand threading through Jesse’s dark chocolate locks, “I could ask you the same question, but this isn’t about ‘deserving’ someone. If I were to ask myself if I deserved your love I would say no, but you loved me (“still do,” he was corrected) anyway. If you were to ask yourself if you deserved my love you would probably answer with a ‘no’, but I love you regardless.”

 

“ **_Wise words young one_ ** ”.

 

They stayed like that for a while, with Jesse listening to Hanzo’s (slightly accelerated but calming) heartbeat. When he finally lifted his head up his eyes were still glistening but they didn’t look as cloudy as before. “I wanted to say so many things but I ended up crying like an idiot,” he chuckled, feeling blood rush to his cheeks. Had Hanzo become even more handsome during the time spent apart? Some strands of pure ink had escaped from his bun and were plastered against his sides and cheeks, framing his chiseled jaw, the metal piercings were glistening, lighting up his face; if he hadn’t know better he’d have said that this man was too handsome to be real. His metal hand cupped Hanzo’s cheek and he searched the archer’s brown eyes as he slowly brought his lips together. Hanzo didn’t hold his gaze. He was the one who ended up closing the distance between their lips, too impatient to taste them again after so much time. Their kiss tasted like the sea breeze they were breathing, but it had a sweet aftertaste that left them want more. When they finally parted they were both breathless. 

Jesse wanted nothing more than kiss him again, but he had something to do before. Hanzo’s spiel had motivated him; to think that once their roles had been swapped…   
“Hanzo, I- I really dun’ want to ruin this moment but… I-I want to apologize. I said so many hurtful things and I still can’t comprehend why y’didn’t give up on us.” Jesse fingers gently traced Hanzo’s cheekbones “I knew I fucked up big time and it was terrifying. I thought I lost everything… you. I was scared to face  because I had no idea how things would be between us so I brought up that bullshit. Hell, I was so, so wrong.” Regret was still lacing his words but there wasn’t any insecurity in his voice. “I love you, Hanzo. I’ve never stopped. I realize we both made mistakes but for this once let me admit that I’ve caused you a bigger grief.” The archer sighed and nodded his head; he didn’t want to argue with Jesse on that. “I want to make things right between us and make up to you but I’ve got no idea how to do that.”

 

What he wanted was nothing more to be with the person he loved. 

 

“Jesse, I want us to be a couple. A real one. Not just pretending to be one during missions. It might sound silly, but I feel I really need it. I’m tired of pretending when it comes to myself, the real me.” Hanzo put it out simply. He told Jesse words identical to these four months ago. It was nothing but the truth, spoken directly after opening his heart and speaking its content out.    
Again, he searched for Jesse’s warm eyes, feeling tense, trying to gauge his reaction, his heart beating faster. “...Yeah, I’d like that. I’m startin’ to get old and a casual relationship with ya just won’ cut out. Y’d be wasted.” 

  
Hope suddenly bloomed into joy and relief, filling his insides with a myriad of warm colours. The sky looked even brighter.

Hanzo crashed their lips together again, actually spooking poor Jesse and making him lose his balance, throwing both of them off from the rock and falling on the hot sand, but neither could care less if it was scalding hot.   
__________________________________

 

When they finally felt like going back to the party, they decided to do so hand in hand. Both had agreed that they had been terrible at hiding their pining, to the point that every agent knew there was something more going on. They were more thankful than surprised for all the support they had received.    
So, when they finally were spotted from the others they couldn’t do much to stop their fellow agents and friends from cheering. They weren’t even surprised at all when someone let escape that there had been a bet going on. Hanzo noticed a certain group snickering and looking pretty smug. Seriously, he should have a talk with Ana, Hana and Fareeha sometime; if they were going to keep placing bets on him and winning he should at least ask for a percentage.

Hanzo and Jesse sat under the former’s umbrella and just relaxed there together once the general excitement had quieted down, watching the gentle ebb and flow of the waves on the shore, happy and peaceful. “I feel like I forgot something,” Jesse murmured, laying back on the chair and digging his feet in the hot sand, playing with it absentmindedly until he remembered “I didn’t tell you what was bothering me at the time.” Hanzo slid his sunglasses off from his nose and placed them on top of his head as he lifted himself in a half-sitting position, nodding to let Jesse know he had his full attention. It was hard for him to say those things out loud, because maybe he was still afraid that Hanzo wouldn’t deem them legitimate to excuse his actions. At least he didn’t have to start from the very start, as Hanzo already knew his story. “In my youth there was no space for relationships. As a kid the only thing I had was my parent’s failed excuse of a marriage and believe me, it wasn't a very encouraging example given how it ended. Then there was Deadlock. Some folks in there were pretty talented and smart but anyone would have stabbed you in the back without notice if that meant raising up in the ranks. When I was taken in by Blackwatch and Overwatch and a whole new world opened up in front of me. Sure, relationships between agents were discouraged but not downright prohibited and they weren't as rare as you might think. It was a good environment despite all the shit that was goin' on at the time.” Jesse took a deep breath and wished he had brought one of his cigars along. “Then everything hit went down to shit: Gabe and Jack started growing distant with each passing day and the growing pressure on either of ‘em. Amélie, Gérard’s wife, was kidnapped and brainwashed by Talon and ended up killing him herself a few weeks after Overwatch brought her back home.” “-Widowmaker?” “Yeah, her. Years later I thought I had lost Ana and suddenly I started looking at the whole picture from another point ‘o view. People were dying each day and everyone was leaving some loved ones behind. Overwatch’s agents crying their eyes out when they learnt of the loss of a loved one. They were soldiers and it’s true, soldiers die, but I wasn’t a soldier. I never was and probably never will feel like one.” Though, that won't make him stop fighting for the right cause.   
He tried reaching for the beer next to him, realizing only after picking up the can that it was empty. “I’m one hundred percent earnest to say that it felt right to act as a couple during our missions. I wanted us to be, with my whole ol’ heart. But what I desired clashed with those thoughts in my mind. Each time I asked myself why I hadn’t outright told you that I wanted to be with you, that I loved you, I’d hear this voice in my head, ready to question everything. ‘ _ What if Hanzo dies on the battlefield?’, ‘What if he gets kidnapped, brainwashed and kills you?’, ‘What if  _ **_you_ ** _ get brainwashed and kill him?’ _ were some of the many ‘ _ what if’ _ s that voice would bring up. And to me, they were all solid points.” His gaze fell on the archer’s gorgeous tattoo. He could swear he saw the two dragon figures move for a moment there. A strange sensation of electricity and power washed over him, clearing his mind. Finally without any clouds fogging up his thoughts he found his answer there. “Yesterday when I accidentally saw you, I realized I never intended to push you away. It’s thanks to you if I ended up telling you everything. You gave me courage. You have grown to be so confident it’s actually a little scary.” Both men chuckled, Hanzo folded his legs to let Jesse sit next to him on the chaise longue. He ran his hand on Jesse’s waxed chest, a small voice in the back of his mind muttering something in a disgruntled tone about preferring him a bit fuzzier, smiling to himself “If it had not been for you I’m not sure I would have turned out to be the man I am today.” They kissed again, a tad bit more chaste now that the others could see them.    
  
“Jesse! Hanzo! We need two more people to fill the teams, wanna join up?” Fareeha yelled from the makeshift beach volley field, holding a rainbow beachball. The two men glanced at each other and nodded, both standing up. Before Jesse could take a step forward though, Hanzo took his wrist and gently pull him down, his lips just a breath away from the gunslinger’s ear. “Let’s make this more interesting, shall we? We will be on opponent teams and whoever wins gets to be on top tonight. What do you say?” Hanzo whispered, looking smug and flirtatious when stepping back to take a better look at Jesse’s surprised and flushed expression. 

  
Jesse’s lips curled up in a grin “ _ Bring it on, darlin’.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lost Footage:  
> [...] Hana just kept running but Hanzo caught up soon. She tried to plea while the archer lifted her up over his shoulder but as he started walking towards the shore she knew that there was no talking her way out of it. Hana started wriggling, trying her best to free herself; she realized she had overlooked something crucial: she too had been sunbathing and her skin was hot.  
> “Oh no. No, nonononono, pleas-!” she begged. " **YEET**!" Hanzo cried out as he threw her into the cold sea water. “Hhhhhhhhh!” Hana screamed in a very high-pitched voice when she resurfaced, an horrified look on her face and a few algaes on her head. [...]
> 
> Here it is folks! This sucked out my soul. I am now feeling completely hollow but overall I’m pretty satisfied. I hope you enjoyed this story and feel free to comment, I’d love to hear your feedback!

**Author's Note:**

> -I set the story around one and a half/two years after the recall so a lot has happened off-screen;  
> -I’ve focused more on Hanzo’s side of the story. The Hanzo in this story has healed almost fully, but is still struggling with some issues. He has grown but some old insecurities haven’t left him. Probably never will. Who knows.;  
> ( ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿ )  
> -If you want to know what happened to D.Va, she got injured during a mission while trying to save a group of civilians. She broke her leg but wasn’t in any life-threatening condition so Angela simply ( ( s l a p p e d ) ) a plaster on and told her to stay put for two months. Because that’s obviously how it works. Yep.;  
> -D.Va’s short came out while I was writing this so I tried to have Dae-hyun and the others in the MEKA team make a small cameo;  
> -Totally Accurate Translation pt.1: '-ajeossi' and '-hyung'. (Very simplified but this was the closest meaning I could find through research) 'Uncle' and 'Older brother (usually used by males but I liked it better than Oppa)'.


End file.
